Alberta’s New Pension Legislation – Will You Be Ready?

In December 2012, the Alberta government gave royal assent to Bill 10, the new Employment Pension Plans Act (New Act). The New Act is to come into force on a date yet to be proclaimed. The most significant hold-up to implementation has been the drafting of the accompanying regulations to the New Act. The New Act takes a much more principles-based approach to the legislation than the current act, with the more rules-based provisions to be contained in the regulations.

The latest word from Alberta Treasury Board and Finance (Alberta Finance) is that the regulations are expected to be released in the next short number of weeks (pending cabinet approval), with the New Act and regulations then set to take effect as soon as 30 days later. If all goes according to plan, Alberta's new legislation will be in operation before summer 2014.